A Lot Like Bliss
by Moonlight Memories
Summary: Lately, Alex has been finding it easier and easier to hop on one foot. How else is she supposed to make her Gialsjay Timesday count? “I need to get over you,” she mumbles. Suddenly, she sees understanding in Justin's eyes. Oops? JALEX


A/N: Enjoy!

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Lately, Alex has been finding it easier and easier to hop on one foot.

It's practice, she supposes. How else is she supposed to make her _Gialsjay Timesday _count? She hears Justin's voice in her head. He's saying that practice makes perfect... along with some other useless stuff. Justin was right, as usual. Alex shrugs it off.

Justin walks into the room. He's saying something, but she's not paying much attention to what he's saying. She _is_ paying attention to the sound of his voice, though. When he finally realises that she is not listening, he shakes her shoulder roughly and tries to make her pay attention to his words. She makes up some insult and tries not to blush. The she looks away, hoping that he did not realise that she was staring at him an awful lot.

She looks at him again, careful not to meet his eyes. Her eyes drift to his lips. All of a sudden, she's overcome by the insane urge to kiss him.

She glances at her wand. Well, she is still able to perform another _Gialsjay Timesday_. If she wanted to, she could just cast the spell and kiss his too-perfect lips. Still, she's almost used up all her minutes on her wand. She knows that she'll be overcome with more urges to kiss him, so she slides it back into her boots. She will save that particular guilty pleasure for later, preferably when she can hold onto something stable. That way, she can kiss him and hug him for much longer than if she performed that particular spell now. She can now hop on one foot for four minutes and 8 seconds without holding on to anything. She knows because she's actually measured. If she holds onto something stable, she could probably stand on one foot for double that time (or even more) if she forces herself to(and she will).

"Are you listening to me?" Justin asks, his face right in front of hers.

She is finding it difficult to breathe. Technically, the answer is both yes and no. Yes, she's been listening to his voice. No, she isn't paying attention to what he's saying. In her head, his voice swims its way into a gentle melody.

She can't tell him that, though. So she rambles off some excuse and asks him to repeat himself. She blames it on the fact that the person she loves is standing so close to her and that she wants to kiss him senseless even though she can't. She rambles on and on and on in her head. Then, she realises exactly how out of character that gesture was. She knows that insulting him now is going to be useless, so she keeps quiet and hopes that he doesn't notice it.

He's talking about some girl likes. She grimaces within, but being his sister, she tries to be helpful. She tells him what he can do.

His happiness is hers, too. It's cheesy, but sadly, it's completely true.

If and when (most likely when) it doesn't work out, she'll be there to console him. For a couple of moments, she'll hug him and he'll hug back. Knowing this, can she really be blamed for wanting them to fall apart more quickly? Still, she will never try to break them up. As much as she loves to hug Justin, she'd never want to be responsible for making him so upset.

He sits closer to her. Without warning, her hands shoot out to hug him. He's nice and warm and shoots electricity down her nerve endings.

"What are you doing?' Justin asks.

"I'm skipping to the part where you come crying to me about messing up the relationship and I awkwardly comfort you," she replies. She doesn't let go.

"I _don't _come _crying_ to you," Justin insists. "It's my allergy!" he continues. Awkwardly, he places his arms around her.

Her heart beats quickly and she finds it heart to breathe. When she looks up, she sees his delicious lips. She looks down again, trying to hide from the temptation he presents. It is not working. She buries her head in his chest. His shirt is quite comfortable. Smooth.

"Why are we hugging?" he asks.

"You totally ruined the moment," she replies. Her voice sounds kind of muffled, even to her own ears. It's probably because she's speaking into his chest. Still, she does not let go of him. If anything, she has settled herself comfortably in his arms. She is not going to move any time soon.

"Did something happen?" he asks worriedly.

"Nothing," she answers, even though the true answer is "everything". While she wasn't looking, her heart began to long for him, her skin began to heat up when he was near. It hurt horribly to be unable to touch him without casting an elaborate spell over him. When did she start to feel like this? She breathes in his scent, trying desperately to record the experience in her head. He smells of soap. It's a nice smell, she decides.

His chest rises. He is probably taking a deep breath.

"Okay. Now get off me," he tells her. She waits for a few more seconds, then drags herself away reluctantly. She'll just cast the _Gialsjay Timesday _spell the second he's standing. That's the only way she'll get him, anyway.

Her tears spill down her face for absolutely no reason. Oh god, she's never going to live this down.

His face softens. He's staring at her with those eyes again... the eyes that she keeps getting lost in. He asks if she's fine. Her shoulders shake as she tells him that everything is fine. His disbelief is written all over his face. He is so easy to read. It comes with practice, she tells herself again. She would be amused if she weren't feeling so hurt. It would have been better to just rip her heart out already.

There would never be a "them".

She closes her eyes, trying to bring finality into her life. It doesn't really work. Everything goes dark for a moment, though, and she finally knows what she has to do. She opens her eyes.

"I need to get over you," she mumbles.

All of a sudden, she sees understanding in his eyes. Huh. He finally put two and two together. Well, she can't have that happening. Thinking fast, she whips out her wand. Where would she be without magic?

"_UnReary Time-"_She starts to say. He pulls the wand out of her hand.

"What do you mean, get over me?" He asks, even though she knows that he knows the answer. He peers down at her carefully. She can't quite breathe when he's looking at her that way. "Have you been messing with spells again?" He looks livid. His hand is squeezing the sofa and she's sure that it'll go out of shape when he releases it. She would laugh at the position he has put himself if the situation wasn't so serious. Then, he looks around the room. He's checking for cupid, she realises. Why is he so angry, anyway?

Oh. Yeah, it was probably about the whole incest thing. She'd nearly forgotten.

"I didn't mess with any spells," she answers. It's not her usual quick answer, though. He actually looks calmer now that she's said it. Oh. Wait a minute. Calmer? That doesn't seem right. Shouldn't he be even angrier? Oh well, she'll just go with the flow.

"You didn't?" he asks, a little breathless. Now things are beginning to click in _her _head. So that was why she sometimes felt warm all over for no reason, why her clothes were rumpled when she was sure she hadn't leaned on anything, why her lips hurt a little sometimes. He was using the _Gialsjay Timesday _spell too. Wow. He managed to get away with that for six months? She'd have to blackmail him when she got the chance. Or not, seeing as it was taboo and everything.

She never cared about rules anyway, so why would she start now?

Still, if he was doing that, why did he go out with so many girls within the last few months? Maybe she is wrong. Then she remembers the dirty look one of his girlfriends gave her. Nah, she's definitely right.

She knows he hasn't used a spell. It's Justin. He always reads up on side effects before touching anything, and falling in love with his sister sounds like a pretty big side effect, even to her.

"So… we're both in the same situation," she says, if only to break the silence.

"Okay. Don't panic, I'm sure between the two of us, we can come up with a memory spell to erase this," he reassures her. That's not very reassuring, considering that she would never want to forget this feelings, especially not when she knows that he feels the same. Still, it does sound like what he would want to do. He is the one who follows the rules, after all. He probably can't stand feeling like this for her. He rambles on and on about some spell which he's found.

Patiently (wow, this is a first!), she waits until he's finished to tell him that she certainly doesn't want to forget her feelings for him. Besides, she's certain that they'd only fall in love again. What is the point of repeatedly erasing their memories?

He glares at her. She's too used to his glare to feel intimidated, though.

Quickly, he reminds her how wrong it is. He talks about Harper's disappointment. He tells her about Max, about their parent's disgust. Their powers would have to go to Max, seeing as wizards could not marry mortals. He talks about their lives. According to Justin, their lives would pretty much be destroyed. Can she bear to live with all of that? He talks about how stupid eloping is, considering their chances. They shouldn't even think of that. Evidently, he's given this eloping thing a lot of thought, she thinks with a smile. He even asks her how she feels about never getting married. He tells her about deformities in children. Someone has this pretty much thought out. She should be upset because he's lecturing her again, but she's so happy that she doesn't care.

He actually considered a life with her. He has not said it yet, but she knows.

So she tells him that Harper would be happy for her. Max is Max, he probably won't care.. especially when he realises that his powers are his to keep forever. Their parents are a big problem, but for now they can keep it under wraps. They'll come clean when they're really old, like thirty, and their parents ask them why they haven't even brought a single boyfriend/girlfriend home when everybody else is making plans to get married. As for their powers, who cares? As long as he was there, she wouldn't need magic to feel like she was walking on air.

"What if we end up hating each other?" he asks softly. Then, he sinks down into the couch.

"We're Justin and Alex," she says, finally. "We'll manage it," she tells him. She places her right hand on his warm back, gently rubbing slow comforting circles.

* * *

"You two have been pretty close lately," Theresa says. "I'm so glad that my babies are becoming so mature!"

Justin is blushing. It's guilt, Alex realises. She reaches out to grab his hand. He is shivering slightly. She squeezes his hand and smiles at him with all the tenderness she can muster.

"Of course we have, Mom," she answers. "I mean, I'm already sixteen." Her voice sounds a little strained from the lie. However, Theresa does not seem to notice. She flashes a smile to the two comfortably seated at the table and walks into the kitchen briskly.

Alex takes the opportunity to plant a chaste kiss on her brother's lips. It comforts him more than a little. He kisses back happily.

So maybe there isn't a church wedding in the far future. Who cares? She'd get to live happily ever after with her prince charming. They'd have a lovely child. Just one. She's not really interested in tempting fate. They'd both work for their future together. Wait a minute. Work? Eww. Her nose wrinkles with distaste. Oh well, she'll get used to it. Bottom line is: they'd be together.

It sure sounded a lot like bliss to her.

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A/N: Leave me a nice little review if you can spare the time:) Please and thank you!


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